


Club Eros

by Ravenclaw1991



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-22
Updated: 2013-11-19
Packaged: 2017-12-30 04:54:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1014333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravenclaw1991/pseuds/Ravenclaw1991
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy and Nico are drafted into a quest by a certain goddess on Valentine's Day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally I was never going to write anything for this fandom, but House of Hades gave me so many Nico feels that I ended up reading a lot of Percico fics. Then I ended up thinking of ways Nico might tell Percy and I came up with this and had to write it.
> 
> I might write another chapter if anyone likes this.

It was Valentine's Day. Percy had almost forgot until his mom asked him what he was doing for  Annabeth . He started panicking. Last time he was in this situation, he got out of it with a little help from Hermes. He knew Hermes wasn't coming to the rescue this time. Nope.

A couple hours before his date  Percy found himself in the card aisle at the drug store a block away from home. H e had just  made reservations at an Italian restaurant a few blocks  away for that evening.  Annabeth  would be on her way soon because he Iris messaged her before leaving home.  He had just seen a card that caught his eye and was reaching out for it when he was whisked away and slammed into a chair.

Even after all these years, he still couldn't get used to being at the beck and call of the gods twenty four seven. It really made him angry. After the initial shock, he glanced around, observing his surroundings. He was seated at a round table covered with flowers  on a balcony facing the western sky as the sun got closer to setting. Down below was.. New York? And clouds?

Percy was on Olympus. After glancing around even more he noticed the room through the doors leading off of the balcony. The curtains were pink. Everything was pink almost. Right down to the fire in the fireplace. The flames were burning a hot pink. He was just putting the pieces together but he wasn't quite there when he noticed a dark shape across the flowers on the table. 

He reached forward and slid the flowers out of the way revealing  Nico  di Angelo sitting there looking shocked. When he saw Percy he jumped and looked ready to dive off of the balcony. 

" Nico ? What are we doing here?"

The boy just shrugged. "I was doing some things and then I was here. I'm pretty sure its obvious who bought us here."

"Who?" Percy asked.  Nico's  face  spasmed . It looked like he wanted to cry, reach across the table and slap Percy,  and still dive over the railing at the same time.

"Hello, Percy Jackson," a voice said almost behind him. He jumped so hard he was certain he just rattled his brain. He knew that voice. 

_ Oh, gods no _ _,_ he thought as he turned. Sure enough, it was her. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. 

"You weren't really going to choose that terribly tacky card were you? Dear  Annabeth  deserves better you know," Aphrodite said with a smile and a glance toward  Nico . 

Percy bit back a retort and smiled politely. "Why exactly are we here?"

"I need a bit of help."

Percy resisted the urge to say,  _of course!_  

"My husband, Hephaestus, as sweet as he is, is taking me to a lovely bistro near the bottom of Mount Olympus. Its run by these darling cloud nymphs. Because of his... _condition_ (read: case of the  uglies ) , I need to look three times as beautiful to distract away from him. My favorite mirror has gone missing."

Percy's stomach dropped. "And you want us to find it. Why me and  Nico ?"

Aphrodite looked thoughtful. " Nico  is very interesting when it comes to love, aren't you dear?" Percy looked at him . The boy looked  about ready to run himself through with his Stygian Iron sword. "And you, Percy, I still haven't forgotten the promise I made to you a few years ago. Now, I think I know who took it but you will need to see my son first.  He's in Miami  right now. I'll send you on your way and bring you back when you've retrieved the mirror.

"But first, those outfits? No, no. Those won't do at all. You need to go undercover  and play the part ." The goddess paused for a moment. "Ah, I know just the thing." 

Suddenly Percy was wearing a suit that was perfectly tailored and probably more expensive than the apartment him and his mom lived in. He looked at  Nico  and found him looking  down  at his clothes. He was wearing all black and it was the first time Percy had seen  Nico  out of his regular clothes since he started wearing them.

Percy was just about to say something when he was falling through darkness and landed on his feet in the center of a beach.  Nico  landed beside him and stumbled into him causing both of them to tumble to the sand. 

They were sprawled  in the sand and  Nico  looked about ready to just die. Finally they made it to their feet and were about to brush the sand off their clothes when they realized there wasn't any. The clothes must've been enchanted by Aphrodite. 

"What did she mean you were interesting when it comes to love?" Percy asked  Nico  as they headed away from the ocean. 

"None of your business,"  Nico  snapped. Percy froze and  Nico  looked guilty. "Uh, sorry. I just don't want to talk about it."

Percy nodded. "So, what son of her do we have to look for? I hope its not  Deimos  or  Phobos . I've met them and never want to again."

"I think I know,"  Nico  muttered. "I just hope I'm wrong."  The two of the walked along for a few minutes in silence. "What did she mean about promising you something?"

Percy shuddered. "When I first met her a couple years ago, not long after I first met you, she said she was  going to make my love life 'interesting.'"

"And did she?"  Nico  asked.

"If some of the things that have happened to me and  Annabeth  are her fault, then yes, its been very interesting. And not a good kind of interesting either."  Percy scanned their surroundings as they walked. "What did Aphrodite mean when she said we had to play the part?"

The son of Hades shrugged in response and they kept walking. 

The two boys were walking past a club that was apparently having a Valentines night when someone called to them. 

"Demigods!"  They spun and found a woman with angel wings on her back heading for them. "Demigod couples  get in free, you know." She indicated the club she had just walked away from. 

"We're not-" both Percy and  Nico  began but she cut them off.

The angel woman grabbed them both by the arm and pulled them toward the club. "Such a cute couple too. Eros will be delighted to find out he has demigods in his club tonight!"  That's when he noticed the sign on the club.  _Club Eros_.

"Eros?" Percy asked.

"Yes, the god of love," the angel lady replied. "Here you go," she stamped their hands. "Have a good time." They were shoved through the door.  The place was packed with couples all dressed nicely. Something you wouldn't expect to see in a club.

"So, Eros is who we're looking for?"

"Unfortunately,"  Nico  muttered. 

Percy nodded. "Let's get this over with. I've got to be back in time for my date with  Annabeth ."

Nico  scoffed, which shocked Percy, but he just scanned the club. Another person with angel wings came over to them. 

"Are you Eros?" Percy asked. 

"I am just one of his employees," the guy said. " Eros is making his way around the club. I shall go tell him there are two demigods here." He trotted off.

"Okay then." Percy headed toward a booth in the corner and  Nico  followed. "We'll just wait for him to come to us."  Nico  seemed to pale at the thought. "You okay?"

"Perfect,"  Nico  replied.

Percy looked at  Nico  properly for the first time. In the dim light of the club, he looked almost like a corpse. The boy had clearly spent too much time in the Underworld. 

Both demigods sat there for roughly fifteen minutes in a semi-awkward silence. Percy attempted a couple times to make conversation, but  Nico  would only nod or shrug or give one word answers. Finally he just gave up.

"Oh gods,"  Nico  said out loud. He was staring at something.

Percy followed his gaze and saw what  Nico  was looking at. "I-is that  Thanatos ?" 

"Worse,"  Nico  sighed. He slid down in his seat until he was under the table, which was out of character for him.

The  Thanatos  look alike made his way over to their table. "Ah, Percy Jackson! I've been hoping to meet you one day."

"You're not  Thanatos ?"

Eros shook his head, "I get that a lot though. I am Eros. I take it my mother sent you?"

"Aphrodite? Yeah. Because of a mirror."

The god of love looked thoughtful for a moment. " Nico  di Angelo, stop hiding. I know you're under the table."

Nico  slid back up into his seat. "Cupid," he muttered.

"Eros, though there is not much difference between my forms. As Eros, I'm not quite as aggressive. Still hiding, I see,  Nico . Are you ever going to stop? The son of Jupiter who knows your secret thinks nothing less of you. Quite the opposite in fact. " 

"Well, its not like I had a choice but to let him know, thanks to you,"  Nico  spat. 

Percy sat there wondering what exactly they were talking about. What secret did Jason know?

"Let's get what you came here for then," Eros told them. "I believe I know who took my mother's mirror. Come with me." 

The two demigods stood up and followed Eros around the dance floor, through a door, and up a flight of stairs. The god led them into a room at the far end of a long corridor. 

"My employees are quite mischievous sometimes. One of them had to have stolen the mirror." Suddenly one of the winged people appeared in the room looking nervous. "It was you?"

"Y-yes, sir." Eros seemed to ask a silent question because the angel guy talked again. "It was when my supervisor sent me on an errand to Mount Olympus. I saw it and didn't know it was important. I am sorry."

Eros sighed. "Very well. Give the mirror to one of these demigods. And as punishment, you will have a two drachma deduction per hour on your paycheck for the next month."

The dude with the wings handed  Nico  the mirror and vanished.

"Now, down to business," Eros began.

"You're going to send us back to Aphrodite?" Percy asked, checking his watch. He only had about an hour before his date with  Annabeth . 

"Not yet. The two of you are not going anywhere until  Nico , here, stops hiding."

"But, I've got a date in an hour!"

"Yes, and it is up to  Nico  whether or not you make it in time. It is also up to  Nico  whether or not you get this mirror to my mother in time for her to get ready for her date with my uncle."

Nico  grew angry. "This isn't fair! You said you weren't like your Roman side."

"I'm not. I haven't fought you or shot you with an arrow have I? I've merely talked to you and locked you in a room. I'll leave you a lone and let you talk now. No shadow travel, son of Hades. It won't work in here."

With that he vanished. Percy flopped into a chair and groaned.

"That is completely unfair."  Nico  looked at him, ashamed. "No.  Annabeth  will understand. I'm not going to let a date be the reason you're forced to share a secret. Aphrodite on the other hand, that's what scares me."

The younger boy sighed and sat down too. "I really don't have a choice."

"Yes, you do. These gods just walk all over us. A secret is called a secret for a reason. You shouldn't be forced to tell someone something if you don't want to." Nico  opened his mouth. "We're going to find a way out of here without you having to do anything." 

Percy stood up and walked over to the door. He started kicking at it and slamming his whole body against it.

Nico  put his face in his hands and groaned. "Gods, you really aren't helping, Percy," he muttered to himself. 

"Ouch, my shoulder!" Percy yelped, snapping  Nico  out of his thoughts. 

"Just stop it, Percy. He's a god, do you really think he's going to let us out of here without us giving him what he wants. Even if we did get out, he could still hunt us down."

Percy sighed. "I guess you're right." 

The son of Hades looked as though he were  about to be sick. "I," he coughed, "I like a guy." 

"That's what you were keeping secret ?" Percy asked. "There's nothing wrong with that,  Nico ."

"You don't think I'm gross or anything?" 

Percy shook his head. "Ancient Greek men often had relationships with other men. Even Apollo had dudes he liked."  Nico's  eyebrows rose. "Contrary to popular belief, I do read,  Nico . Anyway, with that being said, I'm sure there's at least another guy or two at camp that like guys. I'm not going to even ask who you like."

"Can we go now?" Percy called out.

Eros appeared. "That was a nice start, son of Hades, but that's not all of it. Only after telling your friend the rest can you b oth leave." He disappeared again.

" YouretheguyIlike ,"  Nico  said quickly. 

"Huh?"

"Gods,"  Nico  groaned shakily. "You're the guy I like, okay? I've had the worst crush on you since I first met you basically. You were my hero. Even when I said I hated you and blamed you for Bianca, I still loved you. "

The son of Poseidon was speechless. That was the last thing he suspected  Nico  to say.

"Everyone thought  Annabeth  was the one I had a crush on, but it was never her. It was always you. You were my hero from the moment you saved me and Bianca in the snow the night we met. The night you told me about Bianca, I couldn't let those skeletons hurt you. I ran away for a lot of reasons, but the biggest one was because I loved you and I was scared. I helped you after we left  Geryon's  ranch because I loved you. 

"I swear to you, I had no idea my father would do what he did to you that time I took you to see him. I didn't just come back for whatever reason I told you, I came back because I loved you and I wasn't about to let you literally rot in Hades. When we met at Camp Jupiter, it broke my heart when you didn't know me. I cried myself to sleep after you fell into  Tartarus . When Cupid made me admit my feelings in front of Jason in Croatia, I said I was over you. I wasn't. Maybe you knowing will finally help. Probably because you'll hate me now anyway. "

Percy was still staring wide-eyed at him.  Nico  was starting to get scared.

"Percy, say something."

"Do you really think I would hate you?"  Nico  shrugged. "Well, that's stupid. I love you too,  Nico , but more like a brother.. or cousin I guess, since we're technically cousins. Anyway, I would never hate you, especially for that. You can't really help who you fall in love with. You can do so much better than me."

"You really think so little of yourself that you think there's someone better for me than you?"  Nico  asked.

"You've proved that,  Nico . I'm not all that good. I never went to visit Bob,  er ,  Iapetus . I wasn't that good of a friend to you either. Gods, I was even a horrible son. I went missing for months and couldn't remember anything and all I did was leave one message on my mom's answering machine saying I was okay. I never even talked to her until I got back from Greece."

Nico  didn't know what to respond with so he just said,  "So you're not going tell me to get it all out there for anyone else?"

"Not at all. You're not ready. I'll do like Jason did and keep it a secret for you. Not even  Annabeth  will find out. Gods, you must really hate her."

"A little,"  Nico  snorted. "I was jealous."

"I'll keep this a secret, but I'm going to ask you for something. Please, for the love of the gods, stay at Camp Half-Blood. No more living in the Underworld. No offense, but you're starting to look like a walking corpse. You and me are going to hang out as friends, okay?  Maybe if you know the real me, you'll get over me faster and stop mentally hero-worshiping me. And I'm not going to pretend to play matchmaker, but when you're ready, maybe we can talk to Piper about seeing if any guys like you, okay? She seems like the only person in the Aphrodite cabin that can keep a secret."

"D-do I really look that bad?" 

"Um, when's the last time you looked in a mirror, man? Some sunshine will  probably do you  some  good ."

"Now was that so bad?" Eros asked loudly causing them both to jump.

"Can we just go now?" Percy asked irritably. 

Eros snapped his fingers and he and  Nico  ended up o n Aphrodite's balcony again. 

"Did you get it?" Aphrodite asked, stepping out onto the balcony.  Nico  nodded and stepped toward her to hand it over. "Just in time. After dinner with Hephaestus, I've got a date with Ares. He really knows how to treat a lady." She paused and glanced between  Nico  and Percy. " I sense less tension. You've stopped hiding, son of Hades. Very good. And Percy, how about a romantic dinner for you and  Annabeth ? Maybe Paris or Amsterdam ?"

"No thanks. I'd like to do a date on my own for once. Last time, I had help from Hermes."

"Are you  cer -"

The rest of her sentence was cut off by a wave of darkness. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long! I kept rewriting parts of it and everything.

Percy registered Nico's hand gripping his arm. Suddenly they were deposited in Percy's living room where Paul and Percy's mom were sitting. 

"Ugh, I'm not a fan of shadow travel," Percy groaned, staggering over to a chair. "It was awesome the first few times. Now? Not so much." 

"Sorry," Nico mumbled. "Aphrodite was kind of creeping me out." 

"Percy, where on Earth have you been?" Sally asked. "You're date with Annabeth is in fifteen minutes." 

"Long story, tell you later. Eros should be the god of embarrassment," he muttered. 

"Where'd you get the suits?" Paul asked, impressed. "They look like they cost a fortune. Probably more than this apartment!" 

"Aphrodite," Percy replied as though it explained everything. Well, it actually did explain everything perfect to be honest.  

Percy turned to Nico who looked exhausted. He dragged the son of Hades to his bedroom. He made Nico swear on the River Styx that he wouldn't run off while he was gone and then told him to find clothes to borrow. Percy practically slammed the door in Nico's face before bolting from the apartment after yelling that he'd see his mom and Paul later.  

Paul and Sally, who were used to the weirdness surrounded Percy, just sat there dumbfounded as the demigod bolted for the door.  

He made it to the restaurant and was escorted to the table they had ready for him an Annabeth. He had just sat down when she came inside. She was wearing a dress that complimented her grey eyes wonderfully.  

Percy stood up and did the polite thing and helped her scoot her chair to the table. She looked him up and down. 

"I feel under dressed," she muttered. 

"I've had a heck of a day," Percy told her in response. "But you can thank Aphrodite for this sweet suit." 

Annabeth didn't even ask what had happened. The two of them had their dinner and for the first time in a while, they were normal teenagers. It was almost as though they didn't have gods for parents and fought deadly monsters every other day. The weirdest thing they mentioned was the fact that Argus had dropped Annabeth off and was going to pick her back up. 

By the time Percy got home, his mom and Paul weren't there. He worried for a minute until he found a note on the kitchen table saying they had gone to dinner themselves and wouldn't be back until late. He then made his way into his room where he found Nico curled up in his bed wearing sweatpants and a blue t-shirt that were a little too big for him. 

After changing out of his monkey suit and into his pajamas, Percy was struck with a dilemma. He had nowhere to sleep. It would be awkward to crawl into bed with Nico. The sofa was out of the question. It was a loveseat and he was way too tall to fit on it. He just sighed, grabbed a spare pillow from his closet and laid down in the floor. He was asleep immediately.  

Percy was woken up by someone falling over him the next morning. His hand snatched Riptide up and he was about to uncap the pen when he realized it was Nico sprawled over him. 

"Rolling around on the ground together really isn't going to help with the situation," Percy pointed out. 

Nico glared. "You slept on the floor all night? Why didn't you wake me up?" 

"Because you looked really tired, duh. And the carpet was soft." Nico still looked guilty.  

Paul was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee when they came in. Percy mumbled good morning and grabbed a couple bowls and a box of cereal. 

"Lucky Charms?" Nico asked. 

"Uh, yeah, do you not like them? We've got Raisin Bran I think." 

"No, its fine. I've never had them before. I don't like Raisin Bran because Demeter has a thing for cereal and every time she visits Persephone, she tortures me and my dad with it and that's one of her favorites. And the shredded wheat ones too, gross." He poured some Lucky Charms into a bowl. "A-Are those marshmallows in there?" Percy nodded. 

Nico ended up scarfing down two bowls of Lucky Charms and Paul was kind of confused as to how Nico had never had them before. He probably assumed every kid had tried them at one point.  

The son of Hades disappeared to take a shower and Paul asked. "Who exactly is he? I mean, I know he's your cousin and Hades' son, but nothing else." 

"Nico's got a complicated life. He was born in the 30s." 

"What?" Paul's eyes widened in confusion. 

"It’s a long and complicated story. I'll try to explain it to you another time." Paul just nodded.  

Sally was up by the time Percy had showered and changed. Nico had to borrow some more clothes because they had no idea what Aphrodite did with his when she gave them the suits. Nico wasn't happy about that one bit. He kept grumbling about his jacket that was now missing.  

"You're off to camp?" Percy's mom asked. 

"Yeah. Got some things to take care of. You know how it is," he shrugged. Nico stood there awkwardly not looking at anyone.  

Nico shadow travelled them to Camp Half-Blood. They appeared in an area where campers were wandering about after breakfast. A few new campers screeched when they materialized in the shadow of a building because they weren't used to some of the unusual stuff yet.  

The son of Hades burst out laughing at their reactions and Percy laughed too. He couldn't remember hearing Nico laugh before. Not since Bianca died.  

"Percy!" a voiced called. He turned to see Grover running over to them. He got closer and wrinkled his nose. "Hey, Nico." 

"G-man, didn't expect to see you around."  

"Annabeth said you'd be here today so I waited so I could see you. I've got to get going though. I'm going to say bye to Juniper then head off to help some dryads in the Appalachians. See you later!"  

Grove trotted off toward the woods and Percy turned back to Nico.  

"Let's go get you some clothes," he said. Nico glanced down at the too baggy jeans he was wearing and nodded. 

The son of Poseidon headed for the Hermes cabin and Nico followed closely. 

"They're not going to want me here," Nico said. 

"How do you know? You haven't really tried to be here and when you were here you didn't even socialize. Participate, get to know people, they'll like you. They probably only think you're weird because you keep your distance. They treated you normally after we defeated Kronos, remember?" 

They reached cabin eleven and Percy opened the door. "Connor? Travis?" he called into the dwelling.  

"Percy!" Travis called, appearing from the darkened back corner. "Connor's having sword fighting practice right now. What's up?" 

"I need a favor." Travis gestured for him to go on while glancing at Nico curiously. "Nico is gonna be here for a while and I was wondering if you could, um, get him some clothes and stuff." 

"Me and Connor are on it," Travis said mischievously. "They'll be waiting on your bed by dinner tonight," he told Nico. 

"Thanks," Nico muttered. 

Percy steered Nico away from the cabins then asked, "what do you want to do?" Nico just shrugged. "How about sword practice?" 

"That sounds cool to me." 

During their practice, Annabeth turned up and Nico got a little weird. "Why didn't you come find me when you got here, Seaweed Brain?" she asked Percy. 

"I was hanging out with Nico," he replied. Nico was about to slip away but Percy grabbed his shoulder. 

"Hi Nico," Annabeth said to him. "Haven't seen you in a while." 

Nico didn't reply so Percy just said, "hey, man, mind getting us some water from the coolers over there?" The son of Hades nodded.  

"Does he still have a crush on me?" Annabeth asked quietly. 

Percy started choking on his own spit. "What?!"  

"The others said he started acting even weirder after they went to Croatia, when we were still in, you know. We all thought it was obvious really. The way he gets awkward when I'm around." 

Percy glanced at Nico who was digging in the cooler. "I don't know about that. I do know he's been through some stuff and I'm trying to be a better friend to him." 

"Well, you go do that and maybe we can meet after dinner during the sing along. See ya later!" She headed off toward the cabins. 

"You were talking about me," Nico said coming up behind Percy. 

"Yep. Annabeth and everyone else that was on the Argo II with us seems to think you have a thing for her. So Jason and I are the only ones that know." 

"T-They still think I like her?" Percy nodded. "Why?" 

"Because you get all weird when she's around apparently I guess." Percy knew why, but he wasn't going to tell Nico it was because he was jealous and it showed more when Annabeth was around. The conch sounded for lunch. "Come on, let's get some food." 

Chiron came over after they sat down at the Poseidon table. Percy thought the centaur was going to tell them off for it, but Percy pulled him aside and explained that he was hanging out with Nico and that if Nico was forced to sit alone, he might leave. Chiron let it slide. 

After eating the pizza, Jason came over. "Hey guys!" he said glancing between them. 

"Why are you looking at us like that?" Percy asked.  

"I, uh, no reason!" 

"He knows," Nico sighed.  

"Oh.  _Oh_! So you guys are-?" 

"Hanging out as friends so I can maybe get over it because apparently avoiding Percy doesn't work." 

"So you weren't over it! I knew you were lying to Cupid about that." 

"Obviously! Keep your voice down and don't talk about that jerk god around me." 

Percy felt guilty leaving Nico alone to be with Annabeth during the sing-a-long. Luckily he didn't have to worry. The Stolls had taken to coddling him. Percy didn't know whether to be relieved or terrified. He went with relieved because Nico seemed to be having a good time.  

The next couple of days passed alright. Percy hung out with Nico most of the day. Sometimes they would have sword practice, climb the rock wall, or hunt monsters in the woods. In the evenings, Percy would go do something with Annabeth.  

"Do you want to go swimming down at the beach?" Percy asked. 

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Its February." 

"Yeah, and its like eighty degrees within the camp's boundaries. We can go swimming." 

"But I don't have any swimming stuff." 

"Yes, you do. Connor and Travis scored you some swimming trunks when they got you clothes." 

Twenty minutes later, Percy was dragging Nico down to the beach. People were watching them curiously. Nico had on brand new blue and white swimming trunks.  

Percy took off his shirt and stepped into the water. "Come on!"  

Nico was looking awkward. Percy didn't realize that taking his shirt off would make it a little awkward for Nico. 

"Percy, I don't know how to swim." 

Percy was surprised for a minute then he said, "so? Then I'll teach you. You can't drown." Nico still looked like he wasn't convinced but he stepped out into the water too. Percy placed his hands on Nico's shoulders and had a constipated expression on his face. 

Nico had to snort at that. "What in the name of the gods are you doing?" 

"Making it so you can't drown," he replied. "As long as you don't get too far away from me, you'll be able to breathe underwater. I didn't know I could do this until recently actually." 

By the time they were done, Nico would've drowned at least five times. He had gotten alright at swimming in the hour they were in the water, but he still needed to improve.  

One night, Percy was in his cabin reading something Annabeth gave him. Yes, that's right, reading. An actual book. Obviously it was in Ancient Greek though. When Nico burst in, Percy jumped so hard he almost hit the ceiling. The book landed in the floor several feet away.  

"Percy!" 

"Nico, its like midnight, what are you doing?" 

"I was on my way back from the bathroom when I saw someone walking. I followed them and saw one of the guys from the Aphrodite cabin meeting one of the Apollo guys on the beach." 

"And?" 

"They started kissing! You're right, there are more guys here like me." 

"Well, I'm not really surprised. Apollo is, well, bisexual, you know, so I'd be surprised if none of his children were too. And no offense to anyone, but the sons of Aphrodite are kind of 'pretty boys' and I had a feeling some of them might be, well, gay." 

Nico thought about that for a minute. "True. Most guys don't like pink and mirrors as much as they do." Percy nodded. "I think I'm ready to tell someone else besides you and Jason." 

"Okay, who?"  

"Annabeth. Break it to her that I never had a crush on her. Then maybe Piper because you said she was probably the most trustworthy person in the Aphrodite cabin." 

"In the morning, then. Now get back to bed before the harpies do their patrol." 

* * *

"So what did you want to tell me?" Annabeth asked. Percy had asked her to come to his cabin alone so Nico could say what he wanted to say. 

"I, uh," Nico stammered. It was extremely out of character for the son of Hades to behave that way. 

Realization dawned on Annabeth's face. "Say no more. I already know about your crush on me and its okay, Nico." 

"Oh gods, no. Eww," he said with a shudder. Annabeth was stunned and Percy slapped a palm to his face. Nico glanced at Percy. "Sorry that was mean, right?" 

"I'd say," Percy muttered. 

"No, there's nothing wrong with you except that you're a girl," Nico said quickly. "I don't like girls. Well, maybe I could, but I don't really." 

Annabeth was silent for a minute, thoughtful. She leaped forward and hugged him to death. "Oh, Nico. There's nothing wrong with that." 

"Please, don't touch me," he mumbled. Then she let go.  

Percy cleared his throat. "You want to tell her the rest or leave it at that?" 

Nico fidgeted nervously. "I've been jealous of you and hated you for it for the last few years," he told Annabeth.  

"Because you like Percy." Nico looked up, surprised. "I always figured that could be a possibility. After you just said you didn't like girls, I knew it had to be him. Its fine, Nico. But why have you two been so close lately if Nico likes you, Percy?" she sounded kind of... jealous? 

"He's trying to be a better friend," Nico assured her. "So I can get over him. That's all." 

Annabeth nodded and turned to leave. She whispered, "you're a good friend, Percy," then left. 

After that, they went to find Piper. The two of them stopped by the Aphrodite cabin and asked where she was. Her brother Mitchell said she was helping Jason do something in his cabin.  

The door of the Zeus cabin was wide open. When they got closer, there was a squeal and Percy took off running thinking something was wrong. He pulled out Riptide in pen form along the way. As soon as his feet hit the steps up to the door, he felt stupid. 

Piper was standing in the center of the room with a streak of blue across her face. "Oh, its on Sparky," she challenged. She held up a paint brush covered in red paint and charged Jason who ran around the statue of Zeus and kept her at bay. 

"Uh, guys?" Percy said. Nico was right at his shoulder rolling his eyes. 

"Percy!" Piper said. "Nico. How's it going?" 

"Fine, I guess. What are you guys doing?" 

"Chiron said I couldn't actually paint in here, so I did the next best thing. Piper and I were painting some stuff to hang up. You know, to make it more homey in here." 

"Then Jason decided it would be funny to paint my face blue." 

"Sounds fun," Percy said dryly. "Uh, Piper, Nico has something he wants to talk about with you." 

Piper regarded Nico with interest. "Does it have to do with your crush on Annabeth?" 

Jason, Nico, and Percy all said, "oh my gods," at the same time. 

"What?" she asked. 

"I have never and will never have a crush on Annabeth!" Nico exclaimed.  

He explained his predicament to Piper and she "awwed" a little and was about to hug him but Jason talked her out of it. She was thrilled to hear the was the fourth person to find out. 

"Well," Piper said thoughtfully, "I do know Aaron is gay. He's one of my brothers. He's kinda got a thing with Tyler in the Apollo cabin." 

"I know," Nico admitted. "I saw them last night." 

"There's not really a lot of people here at camp right now, but wait until summer when there's more people. I'll keep an eye out. If I actually pay attention, I can read people really well. I try not to pry into peoples' business though. The only reason I know about Aaron is because I caught him sneaking out and knew he was lying when he said he was going to the bathroom. I may have used charmspeak to find out what he was really doing." 

In the end Piper promised to keep the secret until Nico was ready.  

The next morning, Nico told Percy he wanted to tell Hazel so he was going to shadow travel to Camp Jupiter for a couple of hours. 

"I'll be back later today, I swear on the River Styx." Thunder rumbled in the sky. 

"I know," Percy said. "Go on.  I'll see you later." 

And with that, Nico stepped into the shadows and vanished.  

* * *

 

Nico appeared in the shadow of a tree on the outskirts of New Rome. He headed for the actual camp to find Hazel. Instead of finding her, he bumped into Reyna. Literally. He was so nervous, he didn't see her.  

"Watch it," she snapped then she noticed who it was. "Oh. Its you. What brings you here?" 

"I need to talk to Hazel. Do you know where she is?" 

"Last time I saw her, she and Frank were heading up toward Temple Hill. That was about an hour ago." 

"Thanks," Nico said before turning around and heading in that direction.  

He decided to walk because he needed to gather his courage. He fought the urge to just go back to Camp Half-Blood as he crossed the bridge and started up the hill. No. If he could tell Percy about his feelings, he could tell Hazel.  

Nico passed the Temple of Jupiter. He knew Octavian was in there and he just continued walking because he wanted to just go in there and wring the augur's neck. 

Frank and Hazel were packing up a picnic basket when Nico saw them down the hill. Hazel turned and saw Nico at the top of the hill. He tensed and felt like running. She waved and he waved back stiffly. Hazel turned to Frank, said something to him and he turned to see Nico. The couple headed up the hill. 

"Nico!" Hazel said as she ran over to hug him. Frank fell in next to her and shook his hand. "You look a lot better. Not that there was anything wrong with you to begin with. What have you been doing?" 

She was pretty excited to see him.  

"I've been staying at Camp Half-Blood. I promised Percy," he told her. "And, well, he's kind of been like the big brother I've never really wanted lately." 

"Percy is pretty awesome," Frank said. 

Nico smiled. "Yeah, he is." He coughed. "Um, anyway. I didn't just come for a visit. I wanted to talk to you, Hazel. Its kind of important. Do you mind if we-?" he asked Frank. 

"Not at all. I'll meet you down by the bridge," he told them. He kissed Hazel on the cheek and walked off.  

Hazel and Nico walked toward the shrine to their father. 

"So, what did you want to talk about? You're not in any trouble are you?" 

He shook his head. "Do you remember after Split when Jason and I were acting distant and weird?" No turning back now. 

"Of course," Hazel replied with a nod. "We were kind of worried." 

"I'm going to tell you why. Jason found out my biggest secret and promised to keep it to himself. So, uh, here goes." He took a deep breath. "I'm gay." 

Hazel blinked for a minute then laughed. "Me too. I'm glad you're happy." 

Nico mentally slapped himself. Hazel was from the same times as he was, of course she'd think gay meant happy still. 

"No, not gay happy. Gay gay." She looked confused and he struggled for a way to tell her. "Gods. I like men, Hazel." 

She looked a little surprised but not grossed out. "Oh. Well, there's nothing wrong with that, Nico. I've kind of gotten used to the way things are today and I've learned that its perfectly normal." 

"Seriously?" She nodded. "Okay, well, that's only part of what I wanted to say. I've been in love with Percy for the last couple years." 

"Completely understandable," she said with a smile. "If I didn't have Frank, I probably would be too. But, I'm confused. I thought you said he was like a brother." 

"He is now. I kind of had to tell him the truth and now we're just friends. He's been helping me get over him." 

"And are you?" 

"Actually, I think I am." The two of them started walking towards where Frank was waiting and kept talking.  

"So, he taught you how to swim?" Hazel asked as they headed down the hill. 

"Yeah. He put some kind of blessing on me so I wouldn't drown. It was so awkward at first. He took his shirt off and I just wanted to run." 

"You sure you don't still feel that way?"  

They were a few feet from Frank now. Nico shook his head. "Two days ago, when he gave me another lesson, I felt nothing. I've told Annabeth and she was perfectly fine with it." 

Frank was listening because he turned and smiled. "You finally told Annabeth about your crush on her?" 

"Nope. Told her about my crush on Percy." The look on Frank's face made Nico laugh for some reason. 

"I think everyone has a crush on Percy," Frank muttered.  

"Something you want to share with the class, Zhang?" Nico asked. 

Frank turned so red he could've passed for a stop sign. 

* * *

 

Nico had definitely told Hazel the truth. Percy Jackson was no more than just his best friend now. He didn't feel the same toward him anymore. Whenever he saw Percy and Annabeth together, he didn't feel jealous. He had actually started to like being around Annabeth.  

He had even slowly started making friends with a few of the campers, starting with the Stolls and a few other Hermes kids. Percy and Jason had both been right. It had all been in his head and no one really thought he was a freak. He really did fit in, he just chose to keep himself out. 

One of the best days was when he and the Stoll brothers played a prank on Leo. It mostly involved milk from one of Apollo's sacred cows. The Stolls had read that drinking milk after eating spicy food cooled your mouth down better than water. So the two geniuses roped Nico into it and they put together a series of events that caused Leo to burst into flames then be doused in milk. The son of Hephaestus was not amused for once. 

After a rigorous sword fighting practice one day, Percy and Nico were drenched in sweat. Both of them had drank a ton of water and then dumped a bottle on their heads. Percy looked much better, but unfortunately it didn't work like that for Nico. 

"So, uh, you don't still feel the same anymore, do you?" Percy asked randomly. 

Nico shook his head. "Not really, no. Thanks for being there. Pushing you away made it worse, but actually being around you made it better." 

Percy grinned. "Aww, so I don't have an admirer anymore?" he teased. 

"Well, you're still my hero, if that counts." 

"Maybe that's all it really was. You just liked the idea of me." 

The son of Hades scoffed. "You're full of yourself. Let's test the theory." 

"What-?" Percy started to say but Nico slammed their lips together. The were a few mumbles from Percy then Nico pulled away. 

"Nothing," Nico said confidently. 

Percy's eyes widened. 

"Brother!" a voice boomed across the empty arena. Nico jumped and saw Tyson standing there. "Brother was kissing cousin Nico!" he shouted happily. Then he ran off into the distance yelling about it. 

"Oh gods, should we go after him?" Percy asked. "He's going to tell everyone and they'll know you're secret. 

"Its fine. Now I don't have to worry about doing it myself. Ugh, I feel like I just kissed my brother." 

"You know you liked it." 

"Careful, Jackson, you're head might get too big," Nico taunted. "Besides, you did nothing. I did all the work." 

"Because you surprised me!" Nico just rolled his eyes. "Well look at the bright side, at least you kissed your childhood crush. Most people can't say they ever did that." 

"You did." 

"Annabeth was not my childhood crush," Percy exclaimed.  

"Then who was?"  

Percy mumbled something about the weather lady on tv.  

By dinner time a son of Apollo, two sons of Hermes, and a son of Aphrodite had introduced themselves to Nico. Percy elbowed him in the ribs and gave him a look that was similar to 'I told you so.'  

After dinner, another son of Apollo introduced himself to Nico. Then Percy was confronted by Annabeth demanding to know why Tyson had run around shouting about Percy kissing Nico. Percy bumbled over his explanation because an angry Annabeth scared him. Nico explained for him and Annabeth burst out laughing claiming that she figured that and she just wanted to scare Percy. 

Percy glared at her and she ran off. "See ya, Nico," he said before running after her.


End file.
